Thousands of Minnesotans bought electric vehicles to save money on fuel and do their part for the environment. Now, the state is hitting them with surprise bills that can reach $2,500 — just to renew their car tabs.

A new electric vehicle surcharge went into effect in January 2026, on top of existing fee increases passed in 2023. Together, these changes have left EV drivers across Minnesota blindsided. Michael Anschel, a Minneapolis resident who purchased an electric vehicle to cut his fuel costs, received a tab renewal bill of $2,496.25 this spring — nearly $600 of it from the EV surcharge alone. "It's a wildly disproportionate amount that we're being asked to contribute to roadway maintenance and bridge repair," Anschel told the Minnesota Star Tribune. "I really wasn't expecting to get dinged for having made what I thought was a better choice for the state and the community."

He's not alone. EV drivers across the state are reporting surcharge bills ranging from $500 to $2,500 — in many cases far more than the roughly $200 a year the average Minnesotan pays in gas taxes. Some drivers say they would have reconsidered their purchase had they known the fees were coming. Many only found out when the bill arrived.

Making matters worse, the surcharge is based on the original sticker price of the car — not what it's actually worth today. Because electric vehicles tend to lose value faster than gas cars, many EV owners are being taxed on a value their car no longer has. One EV owner who paid $50,000 for her car had her tab renewal calculated as if the car were worth $64,000.

Minnesota has long positioned itself as a state that takes climate seriously. But penalizing drivers for choosing cleaner technology sends exactly the wrong message — and risks slowing EV adoption at the very moment we need it to accelerate. Even Rep. Steve Elkins, DFL-Bloomington, has called the surcharge policy "a failure."

We are asking the Minnesota Legislature — and specifically the House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee — to repeal the electric vehicle surcharge. Road funding is a real and serious challenge, and we support finding fair solutions. But the answer should not be a policy that punishes Minnesotans for making cleaner choices. There are better paths forward, including mileage-based or weight-based fee structures that charge all drivers fairly based on how much they actually use the roads.

Don't make Minnesota a state that taxes you for going electric. Repeal this surcharge now.